Adam Cella is pretty blunt when he talks about his path to MMA. After high school, he packed on the pounds and had no real athletic outlet.

A short-lived run as a backup baseball catcher was basically a dead end, especially since the first-string catcher on his high school team was already on the Arizona Diamondbacks’ radar by eighth grade. Admittedly a “self-conscious” kid, Cella also couldn’t bring himself to give wrestling a try since singlets – the standard apparel for the sport – weirded him out.

So he never really had a sport of choice growing up. But that soon changed.

“I graduate high school, and I got fat,” Cella told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I really wanted to get in shape, but as that was going through my head, I went and saw a local fight in St. Louis and saw someone get knocked out. I was like, ‘Wow. That’s cool. That was better than TV.'”

And thus began his love of combat sports, which first included kickboxing and later moved to MMA. It’s now landed the middleweight prospect a spot on the current 17th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” on FX.

Cella’s striking background is well-documented, and he estimates he had 50 or so amateur and exhibition kickboxing bouts. But as his career developed, kickboxing eventually took a backseat to MMA. During local shows, he saw main-event spots that usually would be reserved for the top kickboxers instead go to featured MMA fights. Fans’ tastes were clearly changing.

Then, his gym, Finney’s HIT Squad in Missouri, added some grappling classes, and Cella (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) caught the bug. Three years ago, he decided to focus his efforts on MMA.

“I haven’t looked back since,” he said.

His striking skills are still his foundation. His “TUF 17″ tryout started off on a rough note as he “got thrown around and manhandled” by another UFC hopeful. But Cella didn’t tap, and he even secured a sweep during their brief scrap. Then, after some sparring and an interview with the show’s producers, he got the call he’d be part of the reality series.

During this past week’s season debut, viewers got a good look at just how far his game has evolved. Facing Jake Heun in an elimination-round bout, Cella slapped on an armbar and survived his opponent’s attempt to slam his way free. Cella, who eventually became head coach Jon Jones’ sixth pick, got the tap-out in the first round.

“I’m supposed to be a standup guy, but I’ve got a couple submissions (in my career), and to get in the house, I got a guy in a pretty good armbar,” he said. “The black belts here were pretty impressed. I think it was a little bit of luck, but I’m good at knowing when you can finish a fight.”

MMAjunkie.com interviewed all 14 of “The Ultimate Fighter 17″ preliminary-round winners, each of whom was featured in the debut episode of “TUF 17: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen.” Two new interviews will be released each day until the season’s second episode airs on Jan. 29.

Ronda Rousey’s statistical greatness has already ventured into uncharted territory – just six fights into her UFC career. Check out all the post-fight facts, including Rousey’s latest achievements, about UFC 190.